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Rings in Ecclesiastical Usages: Madelaine
M. Thiers, in his 'Traité des Superstitions,' gives a curious instance of these espousals to Christ: a Carmelite, in his assumed quality of 'Secretary of Jesus,' had persuaded some of his devotees to sign contracts of marriage with the Saviour. A translation of one of these I now give: 'I, Jesus, son of the living God, the husband of my faithful, take my daughter, Madelaine Gasselin, for my wife; and promise her fidelity, and not to abandon her, and to give her, for advantage and possession, my grace in this life, promising her my glory in the other, and a portion of the inheritance of my Father. In faith of which I have signed the irrevocable contract by the hand of my secretary. Done in the presence of the Father Eternal, of my love, of my very worthy mother Mary, of my father St. Joseph, and of all my celestial court, in the year of grace 1650, day of my father St. Joseph. 'JESUS, the husband of faithful souls. 'Mary, mother of God. Joseph, husband of Mary.
The guardian angel Madelaine, the dear lover of Jesus. 'This contract has been ratified by the Holy Trinity, the day of the glorious St. Joseph, in the same year. 'Brother Arnoux, of St. John the Baptist, Carmelite. Déchaussé, unworthy secretary of Jesus.' 'I, Madelaine Gasselin, unworthy servant of Jesus, take my amiable Jesus for my husband, and promise him fidelity, and that I never have any other but Him, and I give Him, as a proof of my truth, my heart, and all that I shall ever be, through life unto death doing all that is required of me, and to serve Him with all my heart throughout eternity. In faith of which I have signed with my own hand the irrevocable contract, in the presence of the ever-adorable Trinity, of the holy Virgin, Mary, mother of God, my glorious father St. Joseph, my guardian angel, and all the celestial court, the year of grace 1650, day of my glorious father St. Joseph. 'JESUS, lover of hearts. 'Mary, mother of God. Joseph, husband of Mary. The guardian angel Madelaine, the dearly-beloved of Jesus. 'This contract has been ratified by the ever-adorable Trinity the same day of the glorious St. Joseph, in the same year. 'Brother Arnoux, of St. John the Baptist.' A curious legend of a ring of espousals received from our Saviour by a pious maiden, is recorded by Nider, in his treatise 'In Formicario,' and is referred to by Kirchmann ('De Annulis'). He writes in praise of celibacy, and describes a certain maiden who, rejecting all earthly loves, is filled with sincere affection for Christ only. After praying for some token of Divine acceptance: 'orti locello quo nunc oculis corporeis visum dirigo. Et ecce in eodem momento et locello vidit tres or duos circiter violarum amenos flosculos. Violas manu collegit propria et conservavit solliciter, ut exinde amor et spes artius ad suum sponsum grate succrescerent.' After enforcing the miraculous character of the event by reminding his readers that it was not the season of flowers, but somewhere about the feast of St. Martin, he continues : - In sequenti anno iterum in orto suo laboraret quodam die, et ibidem in locum certum intuitum dirigeret, optando ex imo cordis desiderio quatenus ibi reperiret in signum Christifere desponsationis annulum aliquem, si divinæ voluntatis id esset: et en altera vice non sprevit Deus preces humilis virginis sed reperit materialem quemdam annulum quem vidi postmodum. Erat autem coloris albi, de minera qua nescio, argento mundo videbatur similior. Et in clausura ubi jungebatur in circulum due manus artificiose insculpte extiterunt.
Hunc annulum virgo gratissime servavit in posterum, et altissimo suo sponso deinceps ut antea in labore manuum suarum vivere studuit.' J. Nider, In Formicario, Cologne, 1473 (?) ['Notes and Queries '].